Rangers condemned rivals Celtic to a first Scottish Premiership defeat of the season in the Old Firm derby on Thursday afternoon, securing an impressive 3-0 win at Ibrox.
Rangers made the dream start despite their recent woes in this game and were in front inside seven minutes. The home side latched on to Liam Scales’ wayward pass and Ianis Hagi eventually capitalized, curling an effort past Kasper Schmeichel from 20 yards.
Vaclav Černy’s misfired effort almost doubled Rangers’ advantage less than ten minutes later, as it skimmed the crossbar Celticand the visitors constantly struggled to manage their opponents’ intensity during a dominant first half for the Light Blues.
Cameron Carter-Vickers’ superb challenge denied Mohamed Diomande the chance to put some light between the two sides late in the half, with an injury-hit Rangers side unable to take full advantage of their first-half superiority as they lost a promising run against. – attacks.
Kyogo Furuhashi went close to equalizing shortly after the restart, producing a superb touch and finish to beat Liam Kelly, but the offside flag rightly denied the Japanese striker against one of his favorite rivals.
The linesman kept his flag beside him at the other end as Cerny hit the woodwork for a second time at Ibrox. The Czech winger got on goal and struck an effort against the base of the post on the hour, although VAR may well have disallowed the effort had it fouled Schmeichel’s goal.
However, the Light Blues would soon double their lead as a teasing corner found the head of the energetic Nicolas Raskin, who saw his shot deflected into the path of Robin Propper. The Dutch defender slid in at the far post to send the home fans into a frenzy and put the Gers ahead in the final 25 minutes.
Rangers slipped further into dreamland in the 81st minute as substitute Danilo, who had only been on the pitch for 70 seconds, slotted home from close range after a fortuitous deflection, securing a statement winner to ease the pressure on their boss Gers, Philippe Clement.
Celtic’s woeful run in the Old Firm has seen their lead at the top slip Scottish Championship The table has dropped to 11 points as Rangers move further adrift of third-placed Aberdeen.
|
Player |
Assessment |
|---|---|
|
GC: Liam Kelly |
8.0/10 |
|
RB: Ridvan Yilmaz |
8.0/10 |
|
CB: Dujon Sterling |
7.4/10 |
|
CB: Robin Proper |
8.1/10 |
|
LB: Gift |
7.9/10 |
|
DM: Nicholas Ruskin |
8.2/10 |
|
DM: Mohamed Diomande |
7.3/10 |
|
RW: Vaclav Cherny |
7.8/10 |
|
A.M: Nedim Bajrami |
7.7/10 |
|
LW: Ianis Hagi |
8.7/10 |
|
ST: Hamza Igmane |
6.0/10 |
|
SUB: Danilo (80′ for Bayrami) |
6.9/10 |
|
SUB: Robbie Fraser (90+1′ for Jefte) |
N/A |
|
SUB: Conor Barron (90+5′ for Ruskin) |
N/A |
|
SUB: Cyriel Dessers (90+5′ for Igamane) |
N/A |
|
SUB: Oscar Cortes (90+5′ for Hagi) |
N/A |
Subs not used: Mason Munn (GK), Leon King, Kieran Dowell, Rabbi Matondo.
|
Player |
Assessment |
|---|---|
|
GC: Kasper Schmeichel |
5.4/10 |
|
RB: Alistair Johnston |
5.4/10 |
|
CB: Cameron Carter-Vickers |
6.1/10 |
|
CB: Liam Scales |
6.1/10 |
|
LB: Greg Taylor |
6.8/10 |
|
CM: Paulo Bernardo |
6.6/10 |
|
CM: Callum McGregor |
6.6/10 |
|
CM: Reo Hatate |
5.7/10 |
|
RW: Nicolas-Gerrit Kuhn |
6.8/10 |
|
ST: Kyogo Furuhashi |
6.1/10 |
|
LW: Daizen Maeda |
5.7/10 |
|
SUB: Alex Valle (64′ for Taylor) |
7.0/10 |
|
SUB: Luke McCowan (64′ for Bernardo) |
6.3/10 |
|
SUB: Adam Idah (64′ for Furuhashi) |
5.7/10 |
|
SUB: Arne Engles (75′ for Hatate) |
6.1/10 |
Subs not used: Viljami Sinisalo (GK), Anthony Ralston, Auston Trusty, Luis Palma, Hyun-jun Yang.
Man of the Match – Ianis Hagi (Rangers)
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2025-01-02 17:10:00
